Fernando de Noronha (3° 51' S, 32° 25' W) is a volcanic island archipelago 360 km off the eastern coast of Brazil. Fernando de Noronha Archipelago covers a total area of 18,4 sqkm. There is one main island and several small islands, islets, and rocks (Rata, do Meio, Sela Gineta, Rasa, São José, Cabeluda etc.). The highest point is Morro do Pico (323 m.), it's the summit of a large submarine mountain system of volcanic origin which rises up from the ocean floor some 4,000 metres depth. The origin of the Fernando de Noronha volcano has been estimated between 1,8 and 12,3 million years. The island was discovered by the Florentine explorer Amerigo Vespucci on 10 August 1503. Vespucci landed on Fernando de Noronha and wrote the first descriptions of its fauna: he found no humans living on the island, but noted that land birds and sea birds were in great abundance. The only other animals he noted were lizards, "snakes" (probably the worm-lizard ) and "very big rats" (the extinct "Noronhomys Vespuccii").
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